


Lovestruck/Smooth Criminal

by Ace_of_All_Trades



Category: A Heist With Markiplier, markiplier - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Domestic Fluff, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Humor, Illinois angst, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Night Terrors, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Child Abuse, Pining, Romantic Fluff, Slow Burn, Verbal Abuse, Yancy Angst, how do I add every angst tag?, probably, they're both himbos okay?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:09:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21694402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ace_of_All_Trades/pseuds/Ace_of_All_Trades
Summary: Illinois never expected to end up in prison. Nor did he ever expect to one of the prisoners to get attached to him, especially one that seemed to hate him at first. And hedefinitelydid not expect to break every rule he had for himself and get attached to that same prisoner. Really attached.
Relationships: Illinois/Yancy, illiyance
Comments: 18
Kudos: 64





	1. Chapter 1

Looking back, Illinois wasn't even sure how it all happened. Everything was sort of a blur, and what he thought was going to be an average adventure had ended with him in a prison uniform, listening as his possessions were listed off.

"One whip, one pistol and holster, one flip phone… several bags of trail mix, a dozen water bottles, a tinderbox, one compass, one hunting knife-" Illinois was now starting to wish he was _less_ prepared, he wasn't sure how much longer he could stand still "-one flashlight, one matchbox, one pack of batteries, one sleeping bag, one tent, five bottles of dry shampoo, one Gameboy-” _How long had that been in there?_ “-mountain-climbing equipment, and… a shit ton of hats." 

“Yeah, about those hats, you think I could hold on to one of them?” Illinois leaned up against the counter by the window, but was almost immediately pulled back by a guard. “Prisoners don’t get to keep their possessions,” the guard growled at him as he was dragged off to the main room where all the other prisoners were. Illinois sighed as he looked around the room, occasionally meeting the eyes of prisoners who were staring at him. 

Illinois ran his fingers through his hair, pacing restlessly around the room. “It’s just a hat Illinois,” he muttered to himself. “You can go without it, you’ve survived worse than this.” _But I’ve always had my hat with me before._ Illinois shook the thought away, sternly telling himself he’d be fine, although he kept running his fingers through his hair.

“Hey, youse is the new guy, right?” Illinois dropped his hand to his side as he turned to face the person who was addressing him. “Yeah,” he responded as he examined the man in front of him. “Name’s Illinois. Pleasure to meet me." Illinois shifted his weight onto one leg in an imitation of calmness.

The prisoner gave him an unamused look as he crossed his arms. "Yeah, I's heard already. And I just wanna explain somethin' to yas. That youse better not try ta break out, ya hear me?"

Illinois raised an eyebrow at him. "I never said I was going to try." He hadn't even really considered that possibility until then. Honestly, this guy probably would've been better off not saying anything to him.

"Well youse ain't goin' to. Nobody breaks outta here, so it's best ya don't even try, or else youse gonna deal with me, or worse, the Warden. 'M I clear?"

Illinois nodded, although he wasn't at all concerned about what he was saying. His mind was still on all the kidnapped hats. “My sentence is fairly short, so you don't have anything to worry about. I’m sure I’ll last until then.”

~ ~ ~

Illinois wasn’t going to last until then.

The first day or two weren't too bad. Illinois hated having to follow a schedule, but he told himself he could deal with it. The yard wasn't nearly big enough to get any real exercise in, but he thought he could deal. He even got over not having his hat. Kind of. But even with the surprising amount of hidden passageways in the prison, Illinois did _not_ have enough to do to keep himself busy. The days were getting way too long, and Illinois swore his sentence was supposed to end days ago. If he didn't get out of there soon, he was going to lose it. 

Fortunately, Illinois knew he wouldn't have to wait to get out. He had found every tunnel, every passageway, even trapdoors that Illinois didn't think should be in a prison. He'd be able to get his possessions and get out like it was nothing. Nobody would even notice.

Or at least that was the _plan_ , which would have gone off without a hitch if Illinois hadn't walked out into the courtyard that night to see the tattooed prisoner that approached him on day one - Yancy, Illinois had since learned his name was - standing out in the courtyard, eyes coming down from the sky to land on Illinois.

"The hell's youse doin' out here?" Yancy demanded in a quiet yell.

"I could ask you the same thing," Illinois countered, trying to remain indifferent. It was then that Yancy's eyes finally landed on Illinois's bag, and Illinois decided to consider himself lucky that it didn't burst into flames from the fury in them. "Youse tryna break out!"

"Yeah, and I'd still like to do so, if you wouldn't mind." Illinois reached into his bag and pulled out one of his hats, putting it on as he attempted to walk past Yancy, who, unsurprisingly, did in fact mind. Illinois stumbled back as Yancy grabbed him by his shoulders and threw him back. "Oh no, you ain't goin' anywhere. _Nobody_ breaks outta here, and youse sure as hell ain't no exception."

Illinois began surveying the area for a way out as Yancy began advancing towards him, cracking his knuckles. He ended up not needing to worry about that, however, because it was then that they were illuminated by flashlight beams of guards who had evidently heard the commotion. 

"Hey!" Yancy's head jerked over to the source of the lights when he heard a guard shout, and it was then that Illinois saw his chance to get past the prisoner. He immediately made a dash for the gate, but then suddenly the ground rose up to him and the air was knocked out of his lungs as Yancy tackled them both to the ground. "Youse ain't goin' nowhere," Yancy growled as he struggled to hold on to a persistent Illinois until they were both grabbed by guards and dragged back inside, the two glaring daggers at each other the entire time.

"Wait here," a guard commanded as the two were shoved down into chairs sitting in front of the Warden's desk, their mutual glare still generating enough static to power a small town. "The Warden will deal with you soon enough."

As soon as the guards had left the room, Yancy spoke up. "This was exactly what I was sayin' was gonna happen to yas."

"Well I would've been fine if you didn't stop me."

"Why the hell youse even tryin' ta break out? You _promised_ you'd stay!"

"Well I changed my mind." Illinois chose not to argue the fact that he never "promised" to do anything. "And I still intend on leaving," he said as he stood up, "and I'm not gonna wait around for someone else to stop me, sweetheart."

"You're staying here," Yancy said with a surprising note of seriousness in his voice as he reached up and grabbed Illinois's arm. "You're the reason we both in this mess in the first place."

"It's not my fault you were outside. And what _were_ you doing out there anyway?" Before Yancy could respond, the door opened, and the Warden walked in. Yancy's hand immediately dropped from Illinois's arm as he watched him enter.

"I have to say," he said, looking between the two of them, "I am very surprised that it was you two that interrupted my sleep. And please, sit down." Warden put a hand on Illinois's shoulder and pushed him into his seat, and Illinois's face twisted as he attempted to hide the amount of pain it caused. "You know," the Warden continued as he sat down, "I had very high hopes for you, Indiana. You were showing so much improvement."

"It's Illinois. And why haven't I been released yet, then?" Rather than answer Illinois's question, the Warden turned his attention to Yancy. 

"And I am _very_ disappointed in you, Yancy. I thought I could expect better behavior from you."

"But Warden, I's was just tryna keep him from breakin' out!" Yancy protested.

"I did not ask for an explanation. You were still outside your cell after lights out, and I can't just allow my prisoners to wander freely, now can I?"

"Well no, but I-"

"Enough!" the Warden interrupted. "Yancy, I'm sorry to do this," he said, placing a hand on Yancy's shoulders, and Illinois winced sympathetically at the audible crunch it caused, "but I can't make exceptions to the rules, even for you, you understand?"

Yancy nodded. "O-of course, Warden, I-"

"Wonderful." There was another crunch as the Warden patted Yancy's shoulder. "Now, I’ll have to have the two of you spend the rest of the night in solitary." It looked like Yancy was about to protest again, but before he could, the Warden left, and two guards came and took them to solitary confinement. 

Yancy glared at Illinois the entire way to the solitary cells, and once he was roughly pushed into the small room, he turned to glare at his back as the doors closed on them before turning around to the opposite wall. With a shout, Yancy slammed his fist into the wall, and after a short breath, he drew back his arm and slammed it into the wall again, and then didn't stop. He wasn't trying to get out of the cell; at the moment, his focus was on how Illinois had lied when he said he wouldn't try breaking out, and how that ended up getting him to spend the night in solitary. 

Once Yancy had released enough of his anger on the cell wall to think clearly, he took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. He stared down at his knuckles, which were already starting to swell, and gave himself a moment to think through things. For one, he had no idea how Illinois had managed to get outside in the first place - with his stuff even - and without Yancy's help. As far as he knew, he was the only one in Happy Trails who knew how to break out, which would mean that Illinois found the way out himself, which, Yancy had to admit, was pretty impressive. He was guessing the guy figured his way out at night and somehow managed to not get lost, since he apparently never really slept, or at least that's what Sparkles guessed from sharing a cell with him. If that was the case, he definitely wasn't getting any sleep tonight. Yancy knew _he_ was never able to fall asleep in solitary. But who knows? Maybe Illinois figured out how to get out of solitary already. 

~ ~ ~

Illinois stared dully at the door when it opened the next morning, idly swinging his leg back and forth as it dangled from off the bed. When the guard who opened the door yelled at him to get out, Illinois did not need to be told twice, despite him knowing that it would be just as aggravatingly dull outside the cell as it was inside. He'd at least be able to move more than three steps in any direction. 

Illinois was almost thankful, then, when he had to go back to following the prison's schedule; at least he was moving. However, it wasn't even a week before Illinois started to feel like he was losing his mind again, and even though he didn't exactly keep track of time anymore, he assumed his sentence had been extended. Not that it seemed to matter anymore, he nearly went insane even before that night in the courtyard. 

Illinois really should've been expecting it when he finally snapped. And yet, when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he still barely processed when he instinctively whipped around and connected his fist with the face of the hand's owner.

Illinois blinked for a moment as he stared at his outstretched arm before moving his eyes to the person it had knocked back, only to land on the face of a very surprised Yancy.

 _Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit._ Illinois slowly lowered his arm as he watched every face in the yard turn to the two of them, absolutely certain that Yancy was about to retaliate. He could already tell this wasn't going to end well for him; he had nowhere he could run, and he already knew there was no way he could beat Yancy in a fight.

All these thoughts immediately left Illinois's mind, however, when he heard laughter coming from the man standing across from him. Illinois blinked in surprise he could tell all the other prisoners shared as everyone turned to look at Yancy, who just stood there, laughing. 

"Well whaddya know, I's didn't think lover boy had it in him," Yancy said once he had finished laughing. "I'll let youse off this time 'round, buddy," he said as he walked up to Illinois before patting his shoulder and leaning close to Illinois's ear. "Meet me here. T'night," Yancy whispered as he let go of Illinois's shoulder, walking away and leaving Illinois to stare after him in confusion. Was Yancy lying when he said he'd forgive Illinois punching him? Did he just not want to deal with getting punished for getting into a fight? Didn't he remember what happened last time Illinois saw him in the yard at night?

Illinois didn't stop asking these constant questions to himself for the rest of the day, and so his curiosity made him risk the possibility that Yancy was planning on beating him up so he could meet him. Illinois wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting when he arrived there, but it definitely wasn't seeing Yancy with Illinois's bag on his shoulder, turning one of his hats around in his hands. 

Yancy looked up when he saw Illinois walking over, holding up the hat. "So why's the hell youse got so many of dese?"

Illinois shrugged as he stopped in front of Yancy. "What can I say, I look good in a hat." It was obvious to Yancy that Illinois was trying to look calm and collected, like every day, but he was still doing a really bad job at it. The dude didn't seem to realize, but how pale he had been getting for the past week or so made his bit really unconvincing. 

Yancy sighed. "Well, here ya go," he said, holding Illinois's hat and bag out to him. Illinois looked at him in surprise for a moment before cautiously taking them from him. "Alright, I'm gonna get youse outta here before I end up with a shiv to the back," he chuckled as he began walking off, gesturing with a casual shrug of a shoulder for Illinois to follow.

"Wait, you're... _helping_ me escape now?" Yancy looked back at an Illinois who looked like he thought he just completely went nuts. 

"Well I’s didn't grab all that stuff for fun," Yancy said, gesturing to Illinois's bag.

Illinois stared skeptically at him, and Yancy had no idea what he could still be questioning. "Well why the change of heart?" Illinois asked after a moment.

Yancy raised his eyebrows at him. "Youse seen yourself lately? Buddy, you wasn't gonna last anyway, and I don't want youse to hurt yourself by hittin' the wrong dude." Yancy laughed, slapping a hand against Illinois's back. "How comes you so attached to the outside world anyways? What's in it for youse?"

"What _isn't_ out there, that's the real question. There's so much to do out there, so many things to see. There's adventure, glory, life to live!" 

Yancy jerked his head to the side as he heard guards approaching, apparently having heard Illinois, and pushed him into a concealed corner, hiding them both there until he could hear the guards leave. "You might wanna keep youse's voice down," Yancy reminded him as he continued leading Illinois away.

"So why are you _staying_ here?" Illinois suddenly asked him.

Yancy glanced back for a moment before shrugging, his hand subconsciously going up to the back of his neck. "Well, I mean, this is home, y'know? I got my gang back there." Yancy sighed, and from then on, it was silent.

Then, once Illinois was outside the gate, he turned back around to look at Yancy on the other side. "So how come you were out here that night?" he asked as he put his hat back on.

Yancy shrugged before pointing up to the sky. "Just takin' in the view, y'know?"

Illinois looked up at the sky where Yancy was pointing and nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean." Illinois stayed there for a moment, and just as he started to turn to leave, Yancy reached out a hand to stop him. "Hey um," Yancy glanced down at the ground, "youse should come visit some time. Visitation's every third Sunday, but considering how far youse got yourself, youse could probably come in whenever you like," he chuckled.

Illinois stared at him for a moment, and Yancy had no idea what he was thinking in that moment. "I'll keep that in mind," he said with a nod before turning and walking off.

And that was the last Yancy saw of Illinois.

At first he thought that _maybe_ Illinois would stop by for a visit, even though the chances were slim, but then a month passed, and then two, with no news of him, and eventually, Yancy accepted that he wasn't coming back.

And so, he was reasonably surprised when he was standing in his cell one night, and he turned around to see somebody climbing out of his cell wall.

Out of instinct, Yancy immediately took a step forward and drove his fist into the stranger's face, only to find out that the shocked face of the stranger was actually Illinois, who had fallen back against Yancy's bedside table. Yancy stared at him in disbelief as Illinois stared down at the floor in shock, both of them completely motionless.

After what felt like an eternity of both of them being completely still, Illinois reached up and put a hand to his face where Yancy's fist had collided with it. Yancy watched as Illinois clicked his tongue before saying, "Yeah, I had that coming."

As if his voice had broken Yancy out of some kind of trance, Yancy took a step toward Illinois, a barrage of questions on his tongue. "What took ya so long? Why youse only visiting now? How the hell did youse get in here?"

Illinois stared at him for a moment as he straightened himself, looking like he was still processing everything, as if _he_ was the one who just watched somebody he thought he'd never hear from again suddenly appear from inside his wall. Illinois slowly lifted his hand to point to the wall he just came out of. "There's a tunnel hidden behind that wall panel," he explained. "I just figured that since I was in the area, I'd drop by for a visit."

"What?" Yancy turned to the wall panel, which he only just realized was still loose. He pulled it back, looking down the dark tunnel behind it. "Huh," was all Yancy could think to say, as he was more focused on wondering how he never found out about a secret tunnel connected to his own damn cell.

"Yeah," Illinois said, going to stand beside Yancy. "I'm really not surprised you didn't see it until now. I don't know if you'd be able to push this panel out of place from this side, at least not the first time."

Yancy raised an eyebrow at him. "So youse found a passage I didn't, huh? I gotta say, buddy, that ain't bad at all."

Illinois shrugged elaborately, walking backward into the tunnel. "Hey, I'm an adventurer. Finding secret tunnels is second nature for me. Anyway, how about we go on a quick walk, for old time's sake." Illinois grinned, and a whip crack echoed through the tunnel as he winked.

Yancy sighed before pulling the panel into place as he followed Illinois down the tunnel, wondering why he was so willingly going along with what Illinois said.

"You should see if you can move that panel from the inside." Illinois's voice echoed off the walls. "This path is probably shorter than the one you've been taking." True to his word, it wasn't long before a light appeared at the end of the tunnel, and the pair arrived on the other end, just outside the prison walls.

"I gotta admit," Illinois said, leaning against the wall, "the view actually _is_ a bit better in the yard. This way was just shorter."

Yancy looked around briefly before looking at the wall behind them. "Youse ain't tryna get me ta break out, are ya?" he asked Illinois.

Illinois laughed loudly at the question. "No, if knowing me isn't incentive enough for that, then nothing is." Illinois winked at him, and there was another whip crack. Yancy sighed at him before looking back up at the sky, letting silence settle around them for a while.

"So how comes youse got landed in here in da first place?" Yancy asked after a few moments.

Illinois shrugged, glancing over at him. "I got arrested for trespassing, plus I think I ran from the police." Just a moment passed, and then Yancy burst into laughter, completely disregarding Illinois's confused expression.

"Youse fuckin' got arrested for _trespassing_!" Yancy said through his laughter. "Please tell me youse at least had some fun while runnin' from the heat."

Illinois opened his mouth as if to defend himself, but then closed it with a sigh, crossing his arms and looking up at the sky again. "So what did _you_ do, then?"

Yancy's laugh quieted, and he looked down for a moment. "Killed my parents," he sighed, shrugging as he glanced over to judge Illinois's reaction.

Illinois stared at him with raised eyebrows before briefly nodding. "Huh," was all he said, and Yancy had no idea what that response meant.

"Anyway," Yancy said, standing himself upright, "I should probably be heading back now. Don't want the guards to see my cell empty." He chuckled before holding up a hand to wave Illinois goodbye. As he turned back to the tunnel entrance, he heard Illinois say, "Wait!" and felt him grab Yancy's arm. Yancy turned around to see Illinois reaching through his bag, pulling out a pen. Yancy stood still as Illinois clicked the pen and wrote a series of numbers on Yancy's hand, followed by a set of small hearts.

"Just in case I don't come by again, so we can keep in touch," Illinois explained as Yancy stared down at the writing. "And who knows? Maybe if you get out someday, you can get in contact with me." Yancy heard a whip crack as Illinois turned away. "Anyway, see you later, Ohio Boy."

 _How did he know I'm from Ohio?_ Yancy stared after Illinois for a long moment as he walked away before looking down at the number on his hand. He released a deep breath as he reentered the tunnel, thankful for the cooler temperature of it, continuing to think back to the person he had just talked to, comparing him to the person he had helped break out just a few months before. Yancy couldn't help but feel grateful that he had helped Illinois break out when he thought about it. He actually started to wish he had never stopped him the first time when he thought about how terrible Illinois had been looking, and how much better he looked tonight.

Once Yancy got back to his room, he put the wall panel back into place before staring at it for a few seconds. A smile came to his face as he sighed, laying down in his bed. After a moment, Yancy lifted his hand, staring at the series of numbers, getting lost in thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Warnings: Swearing, cigarette mention, food mention, nightmare mention  
> Word Count: 4,572

Illinois reached into his pocket when he felt his phone vibrating, taking the chance to glance back at the boulder that was surprisingly close behind him. He pushed himself to go just a bit faster as he opened up his phone, holding it up to his ear as he glanced behind him at the boulder one more time. "Who's this?" he asked the caller.

"Listen up lover boy," a familiar voice said on the other end, "I can't leave town until parole's up, so youse gonna have to come ta me, ya dig?" 

Illinois grinned. "I wondered when I'd be hearing from you again, Ohio."

"Yeah, well if youse really wanted to hear from me, then maybe youse coulda come and visited more than the one time ya climbed out of my wall."

"And yet here you are, out on parole and calling _me_. I'm touched."

"Do youse wanna visit or not, Apple Butter?”

Illinois grinned at the annoyance in Yancy’s voice. “Sure thing. I’m gonna have to put you on hold real quick though.” Illinois put his phone back inside his pocket as he neared the opening of a canyon, letting himself fall a short distance down the cliffside before catching himself on a rock jutting out of the wall, wincing slightly from the impact on his arm. He looked up at the boulder as it suddenly halted at the edge of the cliff, slowly rolling back the way it came. Illinois adjusted his grip on the rock wall before reaching into his pocket and pulling his phone back out. “Hey. You still there?”

“Yeah. Youse got something on the front burners, buddy? I can call back later, y’know.” 

“No, it’s fine,” Illinois grunted as he pulled himself up onto the nearest ledge. “Just the usual day-to-day stuff, you know how it is.”  
Yancy sighed. “I’m gonna pretend I don’t think youse is lighting up the tilt sign. Anyway, I might not be at my pad when youse come down. I’s gotta hold a gig, y’know, plus do volunteer work ‘n shit. And I’m not even allowed to have a machine, can you believe _that_ shit? The fuck am I supposed to get anything done when I’s gotta walk everywhere?”

“You about done?” Illinois asked, although he was actually grateful for the chance to pull himself to a safer position without having to talk. 

“Shove it,” Yancy said before telling Illinois his address.

“Alright, great. I guess I’ll be seeing you later, Ohio Boy.” 

“Guess ya will, Illinois Boy.” Yancy hung up before Illinois could protest the nickname, or even mention that he wasn’t actually from Illinois. Illinois sighed as he put his phone back in his pocket, looking around at the cliffside for a way up, surprised at how well the ledge he was currently standing on was holding up.

~ ~ ~

Illinois double-checked the address once he arrived at Yancy’s house, making sure he had the right place before going up and knocking on the door. He didn’t think he should be expecting Yancy to be home, since it took him a few days to get there, and also he didn’t call to let Yancy know when he’d be arriving. As a result, Illinois was relieved when the door began opening, only to be disappointed when he saw the person answering the door.

"Well I declare, Texas. I wasn't expecting to ever see you again.” Illinois could swear he felt a vein pop at Mr. Murder-Slaughter’s comment.

“Likewise. So what are you doing here anyway?”

“I happen to be Yancy’s parole officer. I don’t see why you’d be here, however.”

“I’m visiting Yancy.” Illinois wasn’t sure why they couldn’t just take this conversation inside.

Mr. Murder-Slaughter narrowed his eyes at Illinois. “I was not aware you and Yancy were close.”

“We’re really not, but he asked me to visit, so who am I to decline?” Illinois shrugged, trying to remain patient. _How is_ this _the longest conversation I’ve had with him?_ Fortunately, Illinois was saved from the stiff conversation lasting any longer by Yancy returning home, staring at the two in his doorway with an annoyed confusion.

“Was there a bash at my house I’s wasn’t invited to or somethin’? What’s the deal here?” Besides now having jeans and a dark blue muscle shirt, Yancy looked the same as ever.

“As your parole officer, I’m here for a check-in,” Mr. Murder-Slaughter explained, “and your partner here is paying you a visit.”

“He’s not my partner, we’s barely friends,” Yancy said, shoving past the two as he went inside, laying himself across a couch in the room. “And I’s here, ‘n everything’s goin’ smooth, so do I pass the check-in?"

"It's not quite that simple, Yancy," Mr. Murder-Slaughter said, following behind Yancy. Illinois, seeing as Mr. Murder-Slaughter more or less let himself in, followed behind, leaning against the wall as he watched the two others talk. 

“So, are you getting settled into civilized society?” Mr. Murder-Slaughter continued, sitting down in a chair in the room. “I hope you’ve been finding a job, since that should be your first priority in getting reinstated into society.”

Yancy waved a dismissive hand. “Yeah, I got a gig at a mechanic’s shop, everything’s going boss, okay? I know what I’m doing.”

“Well then bless your heart,” Mr. Murder-Slaughter said, standing up. “I suppose since you’re so certain that you have everything under control, we’ll be seeing each other again during the next scheduled check-in.”

“Cool, see you then.” Yancy gave a thumbs up as Mr. Murder-Slaughter went to leave.

“You and Washington enjoy yourselves, and stay safe.” Illinois and Yancy both started saying something in protest to Mr. Murder-Slaughter's words, but neither were able to before the door closed behind him.

Yancy sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Didn't take youse as long as I was expecting, lover boy."

"No offense, but you don't exactly look like someone who has everything under control.” Illinois ignored Yancy’s comment, walking over to sit on the arm of the couch. 

Yancy shot him a glare, dropping his hand back down to his side. “Okay, so maybe I’s don’t got _everything_ under control, but I’s got a gig, and dat’s the important part.”

“But?” Illinois prompted.

Yancy sighed through his nose. “ _But_ , I haven’t found anywhere that’ll let me do volunteer work yet. I guess bein’ in prison for eleven years’ll do that. I got the important stuff covered though, so who even cares?”

Illinois stared at him for a moment. Eleven years? That was how long Yancy had been in prison? He looked about the same age as Illinois, so how old had he been when he was arrested? 

“How did you not get bored of prison after all that time?” Yancy raised his eyebrows at Illinois’s question, shrugging.

“There’s just always something to do in prison, plus I wasn’t payin’ for nothin’. It was pretty hard to get bored.”

“I beg to differ,” Illinois muttered, still very conscious of how confined he felt during his time at the prison. “Anyway, you said you’re a mechanic?” 

“Yeah, I did a lot of that stuff growin’ up. Had ta get used to it again, but I doubt I could ever _really_ forget." Yancy sat himself up on the couch as he spoke, laying his arms across the back of it. "Hopin' I can impress the boss enough for him to give me a rod once I'm off parole."

"Well, if you need any practice, I got my car parked nearby." Illinois shrugged with a deliberate casualness. "It’s working fine, but maybe you could take a look at it. Just to get into practice again.”

Yancy stared over at him, and Illinois grinned at the blunt annoyance in his expression. Yancy sighed after a moment and pushed himself to his feet. “Youse better not be tryna use me as a free mechanic, because I _will_ start charging youse.”

“I’m sure I’ll find a way to talk you out of it." Illinois grinned smugly. “Anyway, you can stay here and I’ll go get it and bring it over.”

Yancy shook his head. “Nah, wouldn’t want the Warden catching wind of it and thinkin’ I broke one of the parole rules. Just show me where ya got it parked, alright?” he said, grabbing a leather jacket on his way out the door.

Illinois nodded as he caught up with Yancy, falling into step with him. “You got it. Anyway, if you’re not too familiar with the area, I’m sure I know it enough to show you around.”

“What, so youse is a tour guide now?”

“I’m just good at finding my way around places, and who knows, maybe we’ll pass by someplace that takes volunteer workers. If nothing else, you said you like to always have something to do, right?”

Yancy sighed in frustrated admission. “Youse better not just be tryna waste my time or something, ya hear me?”

“You know I’d be wasting my own time too, right?” Illinois asked, glancing over at Yancy. “I just figured some time to talk would be nice.”

Yancy shrugged, his eyes falling to rest on a dented, dirt-caked Jeep in a mostly empty parking lot. " _Please_ don't tell me that's youse's," he said, his voice filled with disappointment. 

Illinois drew back in offense as they approached the car. "What's your problem with it?"

"Nothin', it's just, it, well, couldn’t you have gone with somethin’ that looks better than this?”

“What does it matter if it looks good?” Illinois received an appalled look at that. “It gets me where I need to go, isn’t that good enough?”

Yancy stared at Illinois, his mouth opened slightly as he blinked at him, apparently unable to form a response to his words, which Illinois didn’t understand the offense in. Eventually Yancy just shook his head and sighed. “These wheels are gonna need more help than I expected,” he muttered, turning back to inspect the car. Illinois leaned against the hood as Yancy walked around the exterior, checking it for any damage more serious than the dents and generous layer of dirt on it.

Once Yancy reached the back of the car, he suddenly froze before turning back to face Illinois. “Do I’s even wanna know why youse’s window is broken?”

“Oh, that?” Illinois took a few steps toward Yancy as he stared at where the window had been, searching his memory for the cause of the broken glass. “That was from a bullet, I think.”

“A _what_?!” Yancy’s eyebrows raised in shock. “Are youse sayin’ this thing’s been shot at?!”

“I mean, yeah.” Illinois shrugged. “That was actually from a while ago. I’m just glad they hit the car and not me.”

Yancy stared at Illinois, open-mouthed and wide-eyed. “‘ _They_ ’? Youse sayin’ there are _more_ holes in this thing?! I’s wouldn’t be surprised if they’s hidden under all this- this _filth_.”

Illinois raised his eyebrows at Yancy, leaning against the car again. “I didn’t know you cared so much about this thing. You sure seemed to hate it when you first saw it.”

“You shut up,” Yancy said, pointing a finger at Illinois. “Now youse better haul ass down to my shop so I can fix this thing up properly, ya dig?” Yancy walked past Illinois, softly punching his arm before getting into the shotgun seat of the car.

Illinois got in his car, watching as Yancy inspected its interior, arms crossed while he muttered about how he’d be surprised if the car still ran at that point. “So,” Illinois said, reaching through his bag, “since this is so important to you, do you think you’ll mind if I can’t afford the repairs right now?”

“Get bent!” Yancy said before turning to watch as Illinois pulled a screwdriver out of his bag. "Illinois I swear-" he suddenly went quiet as Illinois jammed the screwdriver into the ignition and forcefully turned it. Yancy stared for a moment before groaning in resignation, hanging his head and running his fingers through his hair. "Just… start driving," he said, giving Illinois directions to the mechanic shop.

~~~

“Alright, wait here,” Yancy said once they were outside a set of garage doors. “I’ll go open up my shop.” Yancy was getting out of the car before Illinois even had it in park, and Illinois chuckled when he turned back to look at it with a revolted expression while he opened up the garage door. Yancy gestured for him to drive the car in as he entered the garage, looking around the room and moving things around. As Illinois entered, Yancy turned on a playlist that mostly consisted of what Illinois was pretty sure was 50s rock. “If I’s gonna fix this machine,” Yancy said, Illinois was pretty sure to himself, as music began playing from speakers around the room, “I’m gonna need some help gettin’ through it.”

Yancy turned to Illinois as he got out of the car, pointing a finger at him. “Youse better get away from that thing before you can manage to break it even more.”

“Alright, alright, I’m going.” Illinois walked past Yancy and leaned against a table as he watched Yancy begin on repairing the car.

“Get comfortable, cuz we’s gonna be here a while,” Yancy said after several minutes of simply removing dents.

~~~

After the first hour of standing there in the shop, Illinois realized that Yancy was serious about how long it was going to take to repair his car. He didn’t really mind though, especially after Yancy agreed not to charge him for the repairs, on the condition that he didn’t have to find a replacement for the broken window. It wasn’t like he needed it repaired, especially since Yancy was currently using shrink wrap to cover up the gap where the window was supposed to be, which, in Illinois’s opinion, worked just as well as an actual window.

“So how long do these repairs usually take?” Illinois asked as Yancy danced his way across the garage while “Great Balls Of Fire” played from the speakers.

“For this thing? I should be able to get everything done this week, dependin’ on if I find anything else youse fucked up.” Yancy raised his foot to kick the car, but then thought better and lowered it.

Illinois chuckled at the action. “Yeah, be careful. If _you_ break it, I might start thinking that you actually _want_ me to stick around.”

Yancy glared over at Illinois. "Youse gonna have ta stick around until I get this thing fixed up, whether I like it or not."

"And do you?" Illinois raised an eyebrow.

"Anyway, now that I's got that window covered up, it's time to find out what else youse done to this piece of shit." Yancy ignored Illinois as he began hosing down the car and removing the dirt covering it.

Once the dirt was gone, Yancy looked over the car again to see what all he had left to fix, his shoulders visibly sinking when he took in the multiple bullet holes around the outside of the car.

"Y'know what?" he said, throwing the hose to the side. "I'll deal with those tomorrow. I'm done for today. I'm not dealing with that."

"They seriously that bad?" Illinois asked as he watched Yancy walk around the garage, somehow cleaning up in frustration.

"'That bad'?! Them holes are gonna take me a week alone to fix, it's a wonder the damn thing still runs at all with all the shit youse put it through. I swear, if you get this thing shot one more time, I might just fucking shoot you myself." With that, Yancy shut off the music, bringing "Come on Eileen" to an abrupt stop. "Now get out of my shop, before you manage to break anything else just by bein' in here." Yancy walked out the garage door, practically pushing Illinois out with him.

"Alright, wait, I actually kind of need my car-" Illinois attempted to say before Yancy actually pushed him out of the garage and pulled down the door.

"No, youse not gonna even fucking _touch_ them wheels 'til I got 'em fixed, ya dig?"

Illinois sighed when Yancy pulled down the garage door. "I just kind of have a lot of stuff stored in there," Illinois explained.

"Yeah, I _noticed_ that youse can't even keep the inside clean." Yancy sighed heavily, pulling a box of cigarettes and a lighter out of his pocket. "And it can at least wait until tomorrow," he said as he lit one of the cigarettes, sounding like he was commanding Illinois to do something more than anything.

Illinois sighed, fully aware that this wasn't a decision he'd be able to talk Yancy out of, at least not while he was still worked up about the car's… everything. “So,” he began instead, “you a Chica fan?” Illinois nodded at the tattoo on Yancy’s arm, and was relieved when Yancy’s expression visibly lit up.

“Yeah, I guess youse is too?”

“Yeah.” Illinois grinned, looking straight ahead as they walked. “Y’know I actually got to meet her once.”

“ _What_?” Yancy pulled the cigarette out of his mouth as his head jerked over to stare at Illinois, whose grin only grew at the reaction.

“Yeah.” Illinois shrugged with precise carelessness. "I did her trainer a favor once, so in return he let me meet her. I even got a picture with her."

"Get out!" Yancy stopped in his tracks, turning Illinois to face him. "Youse gotta show me now. I ain't gonna believe it until you do."

Illinois laughed, amazed at how quickly that line of conversation changed Yancy's mood. "Alright, give me a moment," he said, reaching around in his bag until he found his wallet, fishing out a photograph of him with his arm wrapped around a fluffy Golden Retriever which had two signatures on it, one of which had a paw print beside it. Illinois handed the picture over to Yancy, who held it up to his face in awe.

"That's _wicked_ cool,” Yancy said as he handed back the photograph. “Are them signatures-”

“Yep.” Illinois nodded, putting the picture away. “Chica and her trainer." He grinned smugly, amused at Yancy's obvious jealousy.

“No kidding,” Yancy said as he watched Illinois put away his wallet, continuing his pace as he took another breath of his cigarette. “So what kinda shit didja have ta do for her trainer for him to give you that?”

Illinois made a disinterested noise. “We were both in town one time when I heard his car got stolen, so I offered to get it back for him. It honestly wasn’t that much of a task.”

“Did he ask you to wreck it for him?”

Illinois sighed. “No, I did not wreck the car. It got back to him in one piece, alright?”

“So youse only bad at taking care of your own car?”

“Are you seriously _still_ hung up on that?”

“Youse got _bullet holes_. _All over your car_. I have a _right_ to be angry about it.”

“You mean about a car you don’t even like?”

Yancy sighed and raised his middle finger in between the two of them, staring opposite of Illinois before letting his hand fall.

“Alright,” Yancy said once he got back to his house, “I guess I’ll be seein’ youse tomorrow, ya germ?”

Illinois nodded absentmindedly, looking around at the sky as he took out his phone, figuring out what time it was. “You know anywhere I can get a room at for a while?” he asked as he realized how late it was already getting. “Like a motel? Somewhere I could put down a tent also works.”

“What happened to the tour guide attitude from earlier?” Yancy asked from his doorway.

“I usually sleep in my car, alright? And now under _your orders_ , I can’t do that for a week. So if you know a place I _can_ sleep until then, that’d be great.”

“Didn’t know you _did_ sleep,” Yancy muttered, almost too quietly for Illinois to hear. He stared at Illinois for a moment more, before sighing and gesturing for Illinois to follow him as he walked through the threshold into his house. “Use the couch or whatever. Youse can worry about finding somewhere else tomorrow.” 

“Alright, thanks,” Illinois said, following behind Yancy and entering the home the second time that day.

Yancy shrugged. “Whatever. I’m probably just gonna order a pizza or something. Just get comfortable I guess. As long as you don’t make a mess.”

“Sure thing, Yance,” Illinois said, sprawling himself across the couch.

“And don’t put youse’s shoes on my couch,” Yancy said without even looking in Illinois’s direction.

“You had yours on the couch earlier today, what’s wrong with mine?” Illinois called as Yancy left the room. 

“Cuz I’m still mad at youse!” Yancy shouted. “Now shut up, I need to order that pizza.” 

Illinois sighed as he decided it would be best if he just went along with what Yancy told him, at least until his car was fixed and no longer in Yancy’s garage. Until then, having a place to sleep was an actual issue he’d need to think about, and he couldn’t deny that this was a simpler solution than what he thought his options were going to be.

Illinois looked back up as Yancy reentered the living room, pushing Illinois’s leg off the couch and sitting down across the couch from Illinois. “You got any more house rules specifically for me?” he asked with a raised eyebrow as Yancy grabbed a TV remote and began flipping through the channels.

“Don’t bug me,” he said, and then, after a moment of thought, “and if youse still got it, don’t let me catch you usin’ that dry shampoo; showers were made for a reason.”

At that, Illinois couldn’t help but grin, and then after another moment, start laughing. Yancy glared at him as he tried getting his laughter under control. “It’s just,” Illinois got out through laughter, “you don’t seem like the type to actually care about that stuff this much.”

Yancy’s glare darkened, and after a moment of directing it to Illinois, he turned away and instead glared at the TV, despite not seeming to really be focusing on what was playing. 

“So how’d you learn to be a mechanic?” Illinois asked, trying to change the subject to something that might cause the glare to drop from Yancy’s expression.

Yancy shrugged. “I pretty much taught myself everything, between just figurin’ things out and watchin’ other people,” he said, and Illinois was thankful when the glare began falling. “So what about youse?” Yancy asked, turning to face Illinois. “How’d you figure out your whole adventurin’ thing you’ve bragged about?”

“Pretty much the same as you, just personal experience. I didn’t have anyone to learn from though, so it was pretty much entirely figuring it out for myself.”

“Really? I woulda figured youse watched them Indiana Jones movies.”

“No, of _course_ I didn’t learn anything about adventuring from those movies,” Illinois immediately said, livid. “They’re _movies_ and I’m leagues better than Indiana Jones anyway. If anything, _he_ has a lot to learn from _me_.”

“We’s… _do_ agree we're talking ‘bout a movie character, right?” Yancy raised his eyebrows. “And youse is sayin’ a _movie_ character should learn from you?”

Illinois opened his mouth, trying to think of a response, but was saved from having to do so by a knock on the door.

“Probably the pizza guy,” Yancy said as he stood up and opened the door, exchanging a short greeting with him as he paid for the pizza, bringing it back over.

“I thought youse’s name was because of Indiana,” Yancy commented as he set the pizza down on an end table near the couch.

“ _No_ ,” Illinois said, offended, “Illinois is my actual name, I didn’t change it because of a movie.”

“So youse weren't named for him either?” Yancy looked over at him as he picked up a slice of pizza.

“No, of course I wasn-” Illinois went silent, looking across the room in thought, desperately hoping that wasn’t really the reasoning behind his name. Illinois continued staring across the room as he subconsciously reached out and grabbed a slice of pizza, Yancy chuckling at the reaction.

“I really hope that’s not _actually_ the reason behind my name,” Illinois said after a moment of silence.

Yancy began laughing as Illinois continued staring at the wall on the other side of the room. “C’mon, chill, man. It really ain’t that much of a deal how you got youse’s name.”

“Yeah, well now I wanna know!” Illinois turned to Yancy, gesticulating passionately. “I mean, I really hope I _wasn’t_ named after Indiana, but I mean, I at least want to know, even though there’s not really anything I can do about it if I was.”

Yancy shook his head with a grin. “I didn’t know this mattered so much to yas. What do ya even have against them movies?”

“They’re just so unrealistic, and way too predictable!” Illinois didn’t even notice as he started waving his hands through the air in front of him. “Plus, Indiana is always going into these ruins and taking things from their rightful place so he can put them in a museum, and honestly that just makes these ancient artifacts lose _so much_ of their value that they get just by being where they belong,” Illinois said passionately. He turned away from Yancy to take a deep breath and calm himself down, having only just realized how worked up he had gotten himself.

When Illinois looked back over, Yancy was staring at him with raised eyebrows, seemingly surprised at the impassioned rant. “Shit man,” was all he said in response. 

“Sorry,” Illinois said, looking away. “I guess I’m just really interested in that sort of stuff.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Yancy said, leaning in toward Illinois. “I just, didn’t realize how much youse cared about all that.”

“Well, yeah.” Illinois looked back over at Yancy. “I’ve been adventuring for years now, it’s basically my entire life.”

Yancy hummed, nodding. “So what about before? What got youse into adventurin’ in da first place?”

Illinois grinned at him. “Oh, I’ve always been going on adventures. I was born an adventurer. Anyway,” Illinois said, standing up, “I’ll go get a shower, since you’re so adamant about me not using my dry shampoo.”

“I don’t see why youse need so much of it anyway,” Yancy said before he also stood up, taking the leftover pizza with him to the fridge.

~~~

Once Illinois left the shower, having changed into a flannel shirt and brown jeans, Yancy wasn’t in the room anymore, although he seemed to have left a blanket and pillow on the couch for Illinois. Illinois sat his hat down on the end table as he laid down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling as he silently waited to see if he’d actually be able to sleep that night, unsure if he even wanted to _risk_ falling asleep at Yancy’s place in case he got one of his nightmares. Some people, he hadn’t cared as much if they noticed, or were woken up by him, but this was different. This wasn’t just some adventuring partner that was no doubt going to die before long. This mattered more. _Whatever_ , he thought as he drifted off anyway.


End file.
